Star Wars: Princess Leia Changed How We Think About Film Heroines Forever

40 years ago today, an odd space epic called Star Wars hit the big screen. It would go on to change the world forever in countless ways, but none so striking to me as how it redefined what we value in our onscreen heroines.

Princess Leia was a petite brunette teenager in a virginal white dress, calling for help from across the galaxy, but she was no damsel in distress. Thanks to the late Carrie Fisher, Leia was bright, ballsy, and in control. She didn’t shirk from a fight and stood toe-to-toe with the boys. She served up snark instead of swoons. And when she fell in love, it wasn’t with a fairy tale prince, but a charming rogue — a space pirate more enamored with her fighting spirit than her pretty face. Princess Leia redefined action heroines forever.

To understand just how much Princess Leia changed things, you need a little bit of historical perspective. 1976, the year before Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope came out, was a banner year for cinema. We got Rocky, All The President’s Men, Network, and King Kong. Rocky was the story of one man’s personal struggle to reclaim glory and his love interest Adrian (Talia Shire) was a shrinking and supportive figure in a floppy hat. All The President’s Men was the bracing real life story of how two men, with the help of some other men, brought down the most important man in America. King Kong was a box office hit built around the iconic image of a scantily clad Jessica Lange writhing in pain in a big gorilla’s hand. Network‘s Diana Christensen (Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway) was an outlier of the time. She was a ferocious television executive, but she was also a complex, almost villainous, character. These types of brazen women existed onscreen, but they weren’t exactly role models. To put it bluntly, they weren’t heroines.

Photo: Everett Collection

Enter Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher was only 19 years old when she played Leia for the first time. She was Hollywood royalty, but she was relatively inexperienced as an actress. Her one major credit was a small role in the hit film Shampoo. Director George Lucas chose Fisher after an “arduous” audition process, zeroing in on her because she was the only one who could balance being both youthful and commanding. Fisher lent Leia many of her own best attributes: her confidence, her nobility, and her witty irreverence. Princess Leia was not a cutesy accessory to the action. She drove the narrative and held her own against the men (and terrors) around her. Fisher imbued Leia with a sort of old Hollywood hauteur. Princess Leia is more like a fast-talking 1930s dame than an ethereal princess. She says whatever she likes and she gets things done.

Princess Leia was also product of her time as the late ’70s were a turning point for feminism. The wave of empowered heroines that would flood the screens over the next few years were probably going to come no matter what. Nevertheless, Leia is the woman who really breaks that barrier first. The next year, Superman would present Lois Lane as a scrappy, successful journalist, more concerned with getting her scoop than landing a man. Like Fisher, Margot Kidder also borrowed from the sassy sirens of the ’30s and ’40s to bring a spine of steel to her heroine. Then in the years that follow we get Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Alien and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) in Raiders of the Lost Ark, both complex heroines in their own right. Ripley takes it on herself to save herself, whereas Marion, who is as tough as she is broken, is one of the most fully-realizedfemale characters in the entire action genre. Princess Leia is the turning point and the template for these future heroes.

Photo: Everett Collection

And Princess Leia is also the reason we have new Star Wars heroines like Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) fighting front and center in the new films. These courageous, indefatigable, hopeful, and ferocious heroines are Leia’s legacy. Leia never got to pick up a lightsaber or use the Force like Rey does in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but Leia fought with a force from within. When we watch Jyn cast aside her own doubts to fully embrace the Rebels’ cause in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we see shades of the woman who would lead that Rebellion to victory and then through the rough times of the Resistance. Rey and Jyn are both characters on the vanguard — they are the central characters of Star Wars films. It’s a huge leap forward for the representation of women onscreen and it could never have happened if Princess Leia hadn’t made such an impact 40 years ago.

Princess Leia is the mother of all our favorite contemporary film heroines. Now, we demand that our heroines get involved in the fight. We want them to be brave, smart, fun, and funny — all the attributes that Carrie Fisher gave Leia so many years ago. Leia is the first character we saw standing up to the Empire and she is the one who has inspired generations of men and women to believe in the power of a strong female character.